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Pixeltable vs Cohesivity

Cohesivity is one HTTP API that provisions other vendors — Postgres, Redis, object storage, hosting, social login, an inbox, and a browser — with no signup until you claim a 72-hour project. Pixeltable is one Python file: tables, computed columns, and HTTP for media, models, and retrieval. Different jobs. Use Cohesivity for CRUD plus auth plus hosting. Use Pixeltable when insert should run the models.

pip install 'pixeltable[serve]'
See how it works

Different jobs

SidePixeltableCohesivity
At a glance
  • Tables, computed columns, embedding indexes, and HTTP in app.py
  • Insert a row; frames, transcripts, and indexes follow
  • Same file locally and on Pixeltable Cloud
  • Change a column; only affected rows recompute
  • One API provisions Postgres, Redis, storage, hosting, auth, inbox, and a browser
  • Ephemeral project for 72 hours, then a human claims it
  • Provider keys stay server-side; the agent never pastes them
  • The app still owns its own schema, models, and sync between those services

A catalog of backends vs one schema

Cohesivity removes the signup wall in front of other products. Pixeltable removes the stitch those products were approximating for multimodal AI. Pixeltable does not provision Redis, Railway, or a headless browser.

FeaturePixeltableCohesivity
What it is
Multimodal tables + incremental compute + serving in one file
Agent-native API that provisions a catalog of other backends
Signup before the first run
Local needs no account. pxt new is one database to claim within 72 hours, not a catalog of other vendors.
None until you claim. Ephemeral project expires in 72 hours.
Postgres, Redis, auth, hosting
Not the product. Bring them, or use Cohesivity, if the app is CRUD.
The product: one call provisions them, keys held server-side
Media and models
Image, Video, Audio, Document columns; transforms are assignments
You still write the pipeline and point it at the provisioned services
Vector search
EmbeddingIndex on the column; insert keeps it current
A separate provisioned vector database you still have to fill
What the agent reviews
One app.py diff: schema, compute, and routes
App code plus a project of provisioned resources
Inbox, browser, edge workers
Not offered
In the catalog, with published rate limits per tier

The file vs the provision call

Pixeltable: the agent writes the schema and the route. Cohesivity: the agent asks for Postgres and hosting. Apply Pixeltable with pxt schema update app.py my_app, then pxt service update app.py my_app.

Pixeltable

import pixeltable as pxt
import pixeltable.functions as pxtf
from pixeltable.serving import FastAPIRouter


TableModel = pxt.model_base()


@pxt.udf
def excerpt(text: str, n: int = 12) -> str:
    return text if len(text) <= n else text[:n] + '...'


class Docs(TableModel, name='docs'):
    title: pxt.String
    body: pxt.String | None
    title_upper = pxtf.string.upper(title)
    summary = excerpt(title)


api = FastAPIRouter(name='docs')
api.add_insert_route(
    Docs, path='/docs', inputs=[Docs.title, Docs.body],
    outputs=[Docs.title_upper, Docs.summary],
)

Cohesivity

curl -fsSL https://cohesivity.ai/quickstart.sh | bash


# The agent then provisions other vendors.
# POST https://cohesivity.ai/api/resources
# Authorization: Bearer <coh_management_key>
# {"resources":["postgres","railway-hosting"]}


# Claim later: POST https://cohesivity.ai/api/claim/url
# A human approves. The project was ephemeral for 72 hours.

When each belongs

Use Pixeltable when

  • The pipeline is the product

    Video, audio, documents, embeddings, and an HTTP route that must stay in sync on insert. One schema, not a vector database plus an orchestrator plus a bucket.

  • You want one diff

    The agent writes app.py. You review tables, computed columns, and routes together. Same file locally and on Cloud: pxt db update, then pxt schema update, then pxt service update.

  • Recompute should be incremental

    Change a computed column and only the affected rows run again. You do not re-upsert a separate vector index by hand.

Use Cohesivity when

  • The app is CRUD plus auth plus hosting

    Postgres, Redis, object storage, social login, and a place to deploy, without a signup for each vendor. Pixeltable does not provision those.

  • You want a project before an account

    A signed-in organization starts at pxt login. pxt new is a 72-hour claim for one Pixeltable database. Neither provisions this catalog.

  • You need their catalog

    An inbox, a headless browser, edge workers, or an AI gateway with keys held server-side. Those are Cohesivity offerings. They are not Pixeltable columns.

Frequently asked questions

More comparisons

One file for the multimodal backend.

Declare the tables. Apply with pxt schema update. Serve with pxt service update. Cohesivity can still provision the CRUD stack around it.

pip install 'pixeltable[serve]'
See how it worksGet expert guidance